A win is a win. That’s the attitude of coach Ray Bechard and the Kansas University volleyball squad.
The Jayhawks didn’t play their best but still swept Baylor, 3-0, Saturday night in front of 1,034 fans at Horejsi Center.
“We were lucky to get out of here in three,” Bechard said. “Against teams in this league, if you don’t finish games … all of a sudden the momentum is on their side.”
Though the Jayhawks won, 31-29, 30-23, 32-30, Bechard was not completely pleased.
“I didn’t think Game One and Game Three were our best effort,” Bechard said. “But if you can win 3-0 in the league when you don’t play your best from a technical standpoint or from an energy standpoint, you’re kind of fortunate, and that’s how we feel tonight.”
Junior Jana Correa overcame an ankle injury to lead KU with 13 kills. She added eight digs for the Jayhawks, who scored just a .215 attack percentage. Baylor, which was worse with a .101 attack percentage, committed 30 errors and had just 45 kills.
Freshman Savannah Noyes played one of her best games as a Jayhawk, tying a career high with nine kills.
“We’re trying to get her a little more involved,” Bechard said. “We set her 20 times, and she had nine kills. She helped keep their defense a little more honest. I was happy to see her break out offensively a little bit tonight.”
In Game One, Noyes’ kill opened KU’s biggest lead at 16-11, but a 3-0 Baylor run cut the lead to 16-14. The teams traded points before KU took a 28-27 lead on an Andi Rozum kill. After Baylor tied it at 29, Correa connected on two straight kills to put the game away.
KU controlled Game Two from the start, opening a 7-2 lead. Baylor cut the lead to three at 20-17 when Correa was injured while attempting a kill and left the game to have her ankle taped.
The Jayhawks suffered a mental breakdown in the middle of Game Two when they tried to rotate after serving and winning a point. Bechard had to call a timeout to fix the problem.
“Our players ought to know if we serve and we score then we get to serve again,” Bechard said. “I asked the down official for a lineup check, and she thought I asked her something else. Luckily, it didn’t cost us.”
The Jayhawks pulled away when a kill by Josi Lima made the score 26-19. Megan Hill, Correa’s injury replacement, finished the game with a kill, giving the Jayhawks the victory.
“In the first game, we started a bit slow,” Correa said. “We caught on in the second game and started to play better.”
In Game Three, the Jayhawks led, 29-24, before Baylor put together a 6-0 run for a 30-29 lead. But three straight KU points, capped by a Correa tip, gave the Jayhawks their 14th straight home victory.
The Jayhawks will travel Wednesday to Texas Tech.